Inspection Detail

Inspection: 313378242 - Al Solutions, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Charleston Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 1:30 p.m. on December 9, 2010, three employees were working in the production building of Al Solutions, Inc., producing titanium and zirconium compacts. Employee #1 was operating a blender, while Employees #2 and #3 were operating presses that were producing titanium and zirconium compacts. The production foreman was conducting maintenance work in an adjacent production room and an outside electrical contractor was installing lights and electrical outlets in another section of the building. Witnesses inside and outside the building reported hearing a loud thud and metal hitting the floor before hearing an explosion and seeing fire shoot out of the building in all directions. A fire resulted inside the building from the ignition of the zirconium and titanium that had not been processed. The explosion was heard a quarter of a mile away by local law enforcement when a part of the roof was blown away. Employee #1 and #2 were unable to escape the building and perished inside from the heat and smoke. Employee #3 escaped the building with severe burns over most of his body. Emergency responders were called in from several local fire departments to control the fire which lasted several hours. Employee #3 was transported to a burn center, where he died from his injuries four days later.

Keywords: BURN, MAINTENANCE, FIRE, INHALATION, EXPLOSION, CHEMICAL REACTION, SMOKE, CHEMICAL BURN, CHEMICAL VAPOR